


Soldier's Daughter

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s02e09 Galileo, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-04-14
Updated: 2001-04-14
Packaged: 2019-05-15 11:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14789258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Musings from an unexpected source.





	Soldier's Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

 

"Soldier's Daughter"  
Rated: PG  
Category: Sam/Mallory  
Spoilers: I'll say all Mallory eps to be safe, but   
especially "Galileo."  
Summary: Musings from an unexpected source.  
Disclaimers: Not mine. Property of Aaron Sorkin, etc. (NBC) Not   
writing for copyright infringement/profit. Lyrics/title copyright   
Tonic.  
Feedback: Please? (samwest5@h...)  
This one's for you Katie. I can so write Sam/Mal (though I don't want   
to)! =)

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
It's the way he looks at you that says to me  
This isn't over � from the outside looking in  
You see there's nothing sacred here � nothing sacred  
You can bend, but you can't break...  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

It was kind of fate, I guess. We went to the symphony (okay, I   
confess, she dragged me) and right off the bat she saw him. She   
excused herself for a minute to go talk to him, and when she came   
back, well... she didn't.

I'm explaining it pretty badly. But you know what I mean. That sort   
of distracted way of talking, and when I tried to make a joke to get   
her to lighten up she only sort of laughed. If I didn't know better   
I'd say that she was still in love with him.

Not that I'd know a whole lot about that. For all we talk about she   
doesn't exactly like to talk about him. Except to call him a Fascist   
or something like that. I'm not totally sure. It's weird, though.   
She's only that passionate about stuff that she cares about.

We have a pretty good relationship. She's been there for me,   
especially this season, when I can't seem to walk down a flight of   
stairs without getting hurt. But still, when she saw him in the box   
at the symphony I had to ask myself what his relationship was like   
with her.

Sure, she's told me about him as a politician. How he's helped to   
write the last few State of the Union addresses. How her dad once got   
her mad at him because of a paper on school vouchers or something   
like that. (To be honest, she's a lot more into politics than I am.   
So long as we don't go to war with anyone, I let the government   
handle it.)

She's told me about when she first met him, on that tour for her kids   
when he blew it really badly, I guess. That story was kind of funny,   
but to her it's really not. Still, she hasn't told me about him as a   
person. She's never told me what he did for her, or said to her. She   
didn't tell me if she made him do something on Valentine's Day the   
way she sort of pressured me into it. It makes me wonder.

It's almost scary, the way she was after going to the presidential   
box. She zoned, and once she called me by his name. It does worry me.   
I don't want to lose her, and yet I can sort of guess that I don't   
hold a candle to him. There's nothing here that she couldn't live   
without.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
For the reasons out of our control  
You try to make it roll like a dice � away  
But you say that you're all empowered here  
This is obviously not clear enough to me...  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Still, if she can be a fighter, so can I � though I'm not really   
known for it. I'm more of a playmaker. When I'm healthy, of course.   
Still, her strength is interesting. I do know her family history. She   
told me that right off. It's why she doesn't really drink, and it's   
why she doesn't like me to drink. I can't imagine going through that   
kind of stuff and still being here. I'd have thrown myself off a   
bridge or something. And now she's so close to her dad. That's   
surprising too. If my dad ever did anything like that to me I would   
probably never talk to him again.

But she's really forgiving. She'd have to be, from what she told me   
her dad did to her and her mom. Face down in a hotel parking lot?   
Come on. That's cruelty. But she's kept going. And don't get me   
wrong. I respect her dad. He's done a lot for the country. Or so she   
says. And now he's totally devoted to her. He's been through so much   
that he says he's turned back to his family, or at least his   
daughter. Even though I wasn't dating her then, I read in the paper   
about her dad's troubles. I figured it was just another politician   
getting caught with his pants down. But since meeting him, I knew I   
was wrong. Even if I don't know politics, I know that her father is a   
good man. He's a soldier. In more ways than one. He told me he served   
in Vietnam, but still, he's been a soldier here too.

And I'm just not sure that this guy is the right one for her. Her   
father's a soldier. Whoever she's with should be. Or at least try to   
be. I try. From what she's told me, he didn't even call her when he   
got his picture in the paper with a hooker. She'd rip my tongue out   
if I got in that kind of trouble. And yet she comes back from the   
presidential box looking like a puppy in love. I don't get it. At   
all. She tries so hard to hide him away and then she does this.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
Hey, little girl � keep dancing  
Hey, little girl � keep dancing alone  
`Cause there's not enough time in your day  
To keep you here...  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

I think I might tell her that this isn't working out between us. And   
I wouldn't be lying. As much as I love her, and I do, I can't be with   
someone who's got her eye out for someone else.

I don't want to hurt her, but even if she doesn't want this guy back   
she's too much of a loner. I guess that's the way her life has shaped   
her. You know? After her dad's troubles and everything. Every guy   
she's really ever trusted has let her down. I don't want to do that.   
But I don't want to take the risk of hurting her. I think we'd be   
better friends. I don't think I'm good enough for her anyway. Plus I   
wouldn't get dragged to stuff like this.

Wait... he's looking at her! I can see that head of his; she's told me   
what he looks like. Dark hair, drooping in his eyes as he peers over   
the railing. Thinnish. Can't tell what color his eyes are, it's too   
dark. But I know he's looking over here. He's got a cell phone to his   
ear, but he's not really listening. His eyes are stuck on her. It's   
weird. And she, in her stupor, is sort of staring off into space. But   
his eyes sort of find her in the crowd, and they lock. The look on   
her face is everything. It puts the final nail in the coffin.

I'm going to tell her tonight. But I know a thing or two about   
flirting, and this guy is not flirting. He's looking over here like   
the contest is already won.

Hell, this will be my first point all year. Never let it be said that   
Richard Andreychuk wouldn't give up the puck for the good of the   
team. Because I'm not usually a selfish sort of guy. But on this one,   
at the very least, I think I'll deserve an assist.


End file.
